Awe: Foundation Of Faith And Mission -- By: William P. Clemmons

Journal: Faith and Mission
Volume: FM 01:1 (Fall 1983)
Article: Awe: Foundation Of Faith And Mission
Author: William P. Clemmons


Awe: Foundation Of Faith And Mission

William P. Clemmons

Professor of Christian Education,
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

A beautiful sunset, the panoramic sweep of a mountain range, the holding of the tiny hand of one’s firstborn, a view of the work of a famous sculptor, the engineering feat of a modern skyscraper—all inspire within us a deep sense of awe.1 Yet, persons today too often see instead of a sunset, “a luminous celestial body 93,000,000 miles from the earth, 864,000 miles in diameter, whose mass is 332,000 times the earth, and whose temperature at the center is 20,000,000 degrees centigrade produced by nuclear and gravitational forces.” Or, instead of a tiny hand, they see “an outer ectofermal epidermis layer which covers connective tissue, bone structure, and is richly supplied by blood vessels.”

Both views are valid and necessary, but the limiting of one’s vision to supposedly objective data derived from empirical investigation has diminished the deeper existence of awe.2 Awe is a mixture of wonder and dread; a profound and reverent view of what lies beyond the seemingly apparent. It sees the “more than” quality of what it views. It goes beyond to embrace the mystery of all of life, to see that there is still more that cannot be captured by quantifiable research.

Awe is basic to the life of human persons. Its denial, as has been endemic to Western civilization since the Enlightenment, has created functionalistic, pragmatic persons whose lives are often deadened, routine, and burned-out. According to Erik Erikson, persons have a basic need to view life as trustworthy; a doxic trust.3 Professor Carolyn Gratton says that this doxic trust is a “taken-for-granted foundation of all human life… the basis of our generalized confidence that what we perceive and take for granted as being there for us is really there.”4

In the same way, awe is foundational for human life. Adrian van Kaam, founder of the Institute of Formative Spirituality at Duquesne University, has described awe as existing as a potency within each person, rooted in the transcendent dimension of human personality. It is so deeply a part of the self that when denied, not developed, or given outlet in distorted ways, it becomes the basic problem of human and Christian development. Awe determines our way of being in the world. It is foundational for the way we approach life. Life without awe leaves us brittle, confused, and grasping, often simply responding to the current historical pulsations.

The...
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